[Anonymous]

Hi,

The AICPA purports you generally won’t fail based on the TBS alone. This is wrong. On the MCQs I got.

-Stronger.

-Comparable.

-Stronger.

-Stronger.

-Comparable.

-TBS weaker.

I know I did well on the MCQs; and struggled with the TBS.

My point is, Becker does a very poor job covering these topics in the TBS area and the only practice is via the MCQs and reading the text book.

I am a big fan of Becker; however, their REG section is weak, lacking, and has to many poor explanations and enough wrong explanation that they really need to “clean it up”.

If you have Becker materials, make sure you read the text book AMT sections. There are no good comprehensive practice problems.

Finally, you can fail the CPA exam based on the TBS ONLY – I missed it by 2 points, with a 73.

I’ll get it next time.

good luck,

S

[Mika]

i guess this post will soon be gone unless you deleted all the questions you posted.

REG - 80 (02/13/2015) Roger + Ninja Flash Card + Ninja MCQ + Becker's Note
FAR - 84 (05/29/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Some Wiley book questions
BEC - 77 (08/27/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Half Wiley book questions
AUD - 87 (08/28/2015) Roger + Ninja MCQ + Half Wiley book questions

[Missy]

Where did the AICPA say that? Sounds very much like you misunderstood. Kind of the same way you clearly misunderstood the agreement you made not to disclose anything you saw on the exam.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

Yeah…you need to remove the stuff about what your TBS was over. 😐

But, the AICPA “How the CPA Exam is Scored” document ( https://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/PsychometricsandScoring/ScoringInformation/DownloadableDocuments/How_the_CPA_Exam_is_Scored.pdf ) on Page 4 shows that 40% of the score for REG comes from TBS. I'm not sure how that would indicate that you could pass on MCQs alone? You don't have to get a perfect score on the TBS to pass, but you do have to get at least some points from them to pass. A 75 is not a 75%, but if we just pretend for a minute that it is, then if you got full points of all the MCQ, you'd need to get at least 37.5% of the possible points from the TBS in order to pass the exam (60% MCQ plus 15% of 40% TBS). Since we don't know the full algorithm for the scoring, pretending it's percentages works pretty well to illustrate the importance of TBS even with perfect MCQs (and of course perfect MCQs never exist). So, you have to do at least partway decent on the TBS.

And remember, “Stronger” or “Comparable” could be a 1-point difference between the two. I wouldn't put too much stock into those. Let's say that the average passing candidate got 68% of questions over a certain topic right, and you got 70% of questions on that topic right; that might get you a “Stronger” on that topic, but that doesn't necessarily mean you were getting good scores on that topic. Then if the range for “Comparable” is within a 3-point range, for another thing you might've been 1% lower than the average, and gotten a “Comparable”. Then maybe for the TBS you were 43% lower than the average. Who knows.

Even though it stings right now, all that really matters is that you didn't hit the 75, so pick up the pieces, study again as if all the material was new, and try for the next round. The best way to prepare for TBS is to focus on truly understanding the big picture of the material, since that's what TBS test, so maybe focus on reading the book more in your review this time and making sure that you understand the concepts well enough to explain them to someone else. MCQs answer more small-picture questions, whereas TBS are more big-picture, so sometimes reading the book cover-to-cover is better TBS preparation than doing MCQs. Just an idea,

[Anonymous]

bunch of tattle tales here

[MaLoTu]

I know this is a month old, but since it came back up … The AICPA says that you cannot pass without the TBS (FAR,AUD,REG), it doesn't say that you cannot fail because of the TBS… there is a difference.

[the LAST Coffee]

I have exactly the same scoring feedback as you (all good on MCQs and weaker on TBS). I scored a 71. We must've taken the same test I'm sure.

However, my retake was significantly easier and I only studied a week for review. Luck seems to play a part in what type of questions you get I suppose.

FAR 84 (AUG '15)
BEC 83 (AUG '15)
AUD 79 (OCT '15)
REG 71, 78! (NOV '15, FEB '16)

[TheHoundThatRides]

Isn't the scoring system comparing you to people who scored in the same range as you? Theoretically you could get all comparable and still fail if you average the same on all sections as the average on each section of everyone else who got from 70-75%. Or am I mistaken?

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[Anonymous]

You are right TheHoundThatRides. It's comparable to others who scored like 74-78 or something. So scoring a 79 in the MCQ is “stronger” while you could score a 50 on TBS and obviously fail when combined with a 79.

[EuroAddict]

I always looked at it is just b/c you did better doesn't mean you did good. A 50 is better than a 40, still failing.

-----------------------------
BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

[Jamessemma]

I feel like if you take the exam in the beginning of the testing window, the exam is easier (but obviously its all random.) But thats just been my experience. But there is a risk for doing that, since if you fail, you would have to wait until next testing window to retake it.

BEC: 82
FAR: 80
REG: 81
AUD: Last exam, end of may 2016.

Key to passing the exam is understanding the topic chapter and sections, not just memorizing what you read. The more you practice multiple choice, the greater chance you have to passing the exam.

[marqzho]

Jamessemma

NASBA rules:

“If you fail any section of the examination, you may retake that section in a future testing window. You may not repeat any section within the same two-month testing window.”

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[marqzho]

Don't know why you are under the impression that “you generally won't fail based on the TBS alone”

We don't know how does your “weaker” do. For argument sake, you can still fail even you answer all MCQ correctly. TBS is 40% of the exam.

REG 90
FAR 95
AUD 98
BEC 84

[Author]

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